Epsilon Pi Tau

Thank you for your interest in Epsilon Pi Tau, the leading international honor society for technology. In order to start a chapter, it is essential that contact with the Executive Director be made approximately one year prior to activation of the new chapter. Please contact us by email or mail and provide your email, mailing address, and the name of the college or university (if applicable). A start up handbook, Qualifying for a Chapter, will then be forwarded to you detailing the petition process. Excerpts from this handbook are provided below:

Standards apply to programs and institutions, to students and practitioners, and to others with strong interests in technology.

Academic quality is sought in evidence from institutions and programs when they apply to establish a chapter. Essentially, the Board of Directors is interested in the accreditation status and a profile of the faculty and administrative leaders associated with the relevant academic programs.

Epsilon Pi Tau has developed criteria that leaders of approved chapters are expected to apply in the consideration of eligibility of students to be initiated. There are standards for the different levels and programs served at the associate, baccalaureate, and graduate levels. Standards also consider transfer students.

There are also guidelines for the consideration of those already practicing in technology fields and for other individuals who have strong interests in the work and purposes of Epsilon Pi Tau.

Recognizing the effective and highly respected work of accreditation agencies, a petition is largely composed of materials that can be easily assembled from materials that have already been prepared and used for the accreditation process.

Members of the Board of Directors review, discuss, and vote on the matter. There may be an exchange of views, inquiries, and clarifications with the petitioner and a visit to the campus by a board representative. In most instances such visits will have taken place before the petition process begins.

Upon approval by the Board of Directors, the petitioning group and the International Office begin to plan for the new chapter’s Installation Initiation.

Epsilon Pi Tau establishes campus chapters in and serves higher education institutions from associate degree through doctoral degree levels. Such institutions will offer technology or technology-related courses or programs and will have achieved (or be in the process of) full accreditation status from their regional or national accreditation agency and, where appropriate, from state higher education authorities.

The chapter may be sponsored by academic officers of the institution or by a constituent college, division, or department. The sponsoring unit will offer degree or certificate programs or courses that, by their content or purpose, fit a comprehensive definition of technology. This may include programs and courses that deal with the phenomenon and effects of technology. Courses may be offered under disciplines such as science, technology, social studies, or philosophy from the undergraduate through doctoral levels.

Workforce and professional preparation programs from associate degree technician/technologist preparation (NSF refers to these as advanced technology education) to bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs that prepare technicians/technologists and others for professional practice in a specific field of technology in the private sector are served by Epsilon Pi Tau as well as the programs that prepare teachers of technology for the public.

Petition applications to establish a chapter of Epsilon Pi Tau will be considered from institutions that are accredited by a regional or professional accrediting agency with degree programs that are recognized by the higher education controlling or coordinating board of the state in which the programs are offered.

Programs in such institutions should provide evidence of enrollment and grading practices to demonstrate that the program will produce a sufficient number of students with grade point averages to be candidates for membership and to sustain a chapter.

As a condition of eligibility, the institution and/or program should provide a brief profile of the institution’s administrative staff, full- and part-time faculty, and technical staff who supports the instruction and where appropriate, the institution’s research and service efforts.

In fulfilling the primary academic excellence goal, Epsilon Pi Tau serves deserving students in the courses, programs, and institutions described above. But Epsilon Pi Tau’s role to recognize and encourage high professional performance does two additional things. First, it allows chapters to initiate faculty, institutional leaders, benefactors, and practitioners who meet Epsilon Pi Tau’s professional performance criteria. Second, the inclusion of such individuals as members enriches the leadership and professional development experience that Epsilon Pi Tau delivers to career-long, lifelong members, whether they were initiated as students or as professionals.